The Elemental Dragons (also known as Power Dragons) are metaphysical creatures created by the Elemental Masters. They are the physical manifestations of the souls of their Elemental Masters; by conquering and controlling their fear, the Master can summon their respective Dragon at will. Conversely, the Dragon will instantly vanish if its Master loses control of their fear. The Elemental Dragons have powers similar to that of their respective Elemental Master; and if said Masters are under extreme duress or danger, their Elemental Dragons can merge together and still wield their own elements. They can also fly, making them useful transportation. As a result of their emotional and physical relations to their Elemental Masters, Elemental Dragons age and develop alongside their summoners.

Lloyd used his to travel the island to find Skylor after the Ninja were alerted of Chen's plan. As he did so Karlof stated to a an amazed Griffin Turner he wish he could do that.

When Zane fell into a cave completely identical to the one in his dreams, he saw the Titanium Dragon again. He tried to use his powers to force it back, though his Ice went through it, in addition to P.I.X.A.L. trying to tell him it was in his head. Upon accepting he is now the Titanium Ninja instead of the White Ninja, Zane acknowledge the dragon wasn't real. P.I.X.A.L. told him his power was rising as he unlocked the Titanium Dragon.

At the same time, Kai and Skylor were captured and Kai witnessed as Chen used his daughter as the power source he needed to complete the spell, effectively turning the both of them, as well as Kapau and Chope (in addition to Garmadon and the other Cultists) into Anacondrai. Accepting Skylor's new form and learning her feelings for him are mutual, Kai unlocked the Elemental Fire Dragon and used it to escape.

When the Cultists escaped and headed off to Ninjago, Lloyd attempted to follow them on his own as he was the only Elemental Master with a Dragon. However, Zane, Kai, and Skylor returned, telling the Masters it was fear and doubt that prevented them from unlocking their Dragons. With this, the twelve remaining Masters unlocked their Elemental Dragons and used them to return to New Ninjago City.

Riding a day after Chen, the Elemental Masters returned to Ninjago City to find the Anacondrai Cultists haven't attacked. While the Ninja, Nya, Garmadon, and Skylor headed for the Samurai X Cave, the other masters took off on their dragons to keep watch. The Ninja then used their dragons to fly to Kryptarium Prison to find Pythor and back. When Chen's trucks approached Ninjago City, Shadow led the masters to summon their dragons and prepare to take them head on, only for the trucks to divide to conquer. The masters split up to intercept a truck each while the Ninja also took on a truck. After Skylor realized the trucks were pulling the masters away from the people, Master Wu ordered them to stop the trucks. When they did, they saw the trucks were empty and lost their dragons out of fear.

Without their dragons, the Ninja and the Masters took the trucks and returned to the Samurai X Cave. According to Gravis, almost everyone lost their dragons; despite this, they still managed to defeat the cultists when Garmadon had himself banished to have them cursed.

The Ninja used their Elemental Dragons to track down and capture a giant fish that was terrorizing a nearby fishing village. Later, when they were using their powers to help advertise Wu's new tea shop, an unusual wind storm unexpectedly took them away. It was that night they learned the reason: Morro, the late Elemental Master of Wind, had possessed Lloyd, and was thus able to manifest his own Wind Dragon.

Morro pursued the de-powered Ninja on his Elemental Wind Dragon in the air, and managed to ground the Destiny's Bounty along with taking Wu's staff which contained clues to the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb.

In an attempt to find the mainland, Lloyd uses his Energy Dragon to search the vast ocean away from Tiger Widow Island. In the end, even he cannot sustain the energy for an extensive time and barely manages to return to the island with the remaining stranded Ninja.

When Lloyd enabled Jay and Nya to escape from Nadakhan, the two Ninja were unable to materialize their Elemental Dragons due to Jay's injuries and Nya's fear for him. When they locked hands during their fall, however, their trust in each other replaced their fear and their combined powers created a hybrid dragon, allowing them to escape.

Jay summoned his dragon to find allies to help him stop the wedding. He would later summon it to chase after Sqiffy and Bucko before they could warn Nadakhan. However, he was forced to let Bucko go and used his dragon to reach the land going up to Djinjago.

Trivia

After discovering that Zane unlocked his Elemental Dragon, Jay referred to them as Power Dragons, to which could be another name for them.

The Golden Dragon was the first Elemental Dragon to be shown in the series. Fittingly, its scale with its owner compared to that of other Elemental Dragons and their masters, it is the largest of them all.

Jacob appeared in a cameo in "The Greatest Fear of All" with the other Elemental Masters, indicating that he may have unlocked his Dragon to get off of Chen's Island.

A dull gold-colored Dragon appears in a flashback in "Spellbound," being ridden by an unidentified Elemental Master. The dragon's appearance strongly resembles that of the Gravity Dragon, yet their riders are two different people.

Two minor weaknesses in using an Elemental Dragon, as revealed in The Greatest Fear of All is when the user is shown to have great fear, they will lose control of the dragons. The other is shown in "My Dinner With Nadakhan," is that the energy to sustain the dragons comes from its respective master. If he or she uses it for too long on one trip, his or her own energy will run out and the dragon will vanish. As another consequence, the Elemental Master must wait for a time before his or her energy is restored.

In "Wishmasters," Jay and Nya create the very first hybrid Elemental Dragon: mix of their Water and Lightning powers to create a Hydro Electric Dragon possessing both elemental qualities.